New Scientist


Test moderators use AI-generated writing to judge literacy standards

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:28:46 +0000

To cut the cost of key stage 2 assessments, a UK government project proposes to use scripts generated by ChatGPT instead of real children's writing as examples supplied to moderators who check that grades are awarded fairly


THC in cannabis may reduce nightmares in people with PTSD

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 14:02:34 +0000

A drug made up of THC, the main psychoactive component of cannabis, reduced the severity and incidence of nightmares in people with PTSD


Fishers detonate a bomb every hour on one Indonesian coral reef

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 11:00:55 +0000

The use of explosives to kill fish is widespread across the tropics, and acoustic monitoring in an Indonesian archipelago detected more than 3500 explosions in 483 days


How bad is the UK drought and how long will it continue?

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 10:18:23 +0000

Almost three-quarters of England is now in drought conditions, resulting in restrictions on water use in many areas and severe wildfires – here's how it's affecting farming, wildlife and trees


Monsoon-driven wildfires may have shaped human evolution

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000

A reconstruction of East Africa's environment 1.75 million years ago suggests wildfires spiked during wetter times, which may have influenced human evolution


Why do people ask so few questions in conversation? 

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000

We've perhaps been conditioned to not ask too many questions, in case it comes across as rude or prying. But columnist David Robson argues that asking people open-ended questions benefits our wellbeing, and doesn't have to be complicated


‘Remarkable’ discovery upends our understanding of how brains store memories

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Memories in mice persisted even after they lost the connections that we thought were needed for recall, expanding our knowledge of memory in the mammalian brain


DNA reveals a society organised around women in pre-Roman Britain

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Descent passed from mother to daughter rather than from father to son, a study of more than 500 Iron Age individuals from north-east England suggests


Quantum entanglement is key to solving 250-year-old maths problem

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Analysis of a mathematical puzzle that Leonhard Euler deemed unsolvable in the 1700s reveals that the crucial ingredient for cracking it after all is quantum entanglement


The most breathtaking photos of the total solar eclipse

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 10:16:21 +0000

Photographers in Spain captured spectacular images of the rare alignment of the moon and the sun, as it cast a dark shadow over much of the country